Sammamish High School is excited to present Shrek: The Musical, its first large-scale show that will be back at Sammamish after five years of planning and construction moved productions to Newport, International, and Interlake school stages.
“It feels great to be back home!” said Theatre Director Melissa Deutsch. “The Sammamish Performing Arts Center is the heart of the new building. The faculty, staff, and community all come together during performance nights to support the students and it really feels like a big family celebration.”
Using a different school’s performing arts center created challenges for Sammamish. Shows needed minimal technical requirements. Onstage rehearsal time was drastically shortened. The cast and crew needed to be small.
But now that productions have moved back home, Sammamish is going big… and green.
A cast of 30 students will perform a musical comedy fairy tale that takes audiences through the lives of Shrek, an ogre, and Fiona, a young princess locked away in a tower. Shrek is one of the largest shows Sammamish has produced, requiring elaborate sets, costumes and makeup.
“Because of the size of the show we have more people coming from different skill levels. It’s always fun to have people who are new, it’s a reminder of why we love theater,” said Stage Manager Gabriel Daniels.
Actress Akemi Takahashi, who plays Fiona said “Rehearsing on our own stage is such a good feeling. There’s such a strong sense of pride that we all have for our beautiful theater. It is also so much more convenient to be able to work in our own space and have the luxury of blocking things out with the proper spacing. We’re so lucky to have the theater that we do.”
Shrek: The Musical will be showing April 27, 28 and 29 at 7:30 p.m. each night. Tickets are $10 for students with ASB and $12 for General Admission. Tickets are available at the door or you can buy them in advance using Touchbase.